Redemption
by cryo247
Summary: Mara Harrison is dying. Khan is not the man Mara thought she knew and the world is not the one she was born into. But when the Augments appear across the universe war seems inevitable. Mara doesn't know how long she has, but she will fight until her last breath. *Squeal for Into the Black*
1. Chapter 1

One:

-Arizona 300 years earlier-

Mara stood looking at her reflection with a puzzled look on her face. She pinched the skin under her eyes, rubbed her cheeks, and pinched the skin under her neck. Whenever her older cousins talked about turning 16 they always raved about how they felt so mature and grown up, like they could take on the world.

But today, Mara didn't feel any different.

She knitted her brows together and picked up the tweezers. Since she could remember, Mara used to sit on the toilet seat and watch her mother tweeze her eyebrows. Molly always did it so well, as if it was an art all to itself. Molly used to always say, 'a girl has to have nice brows', and while Mara's weren't busy, she felt like tweezing her brows herself on the morning of her 16th birthday would be a perfect rite of passage.

Leaning over the sink, Mara shut her eye and placed one finger on the end of her brow to keep it steady. Then slowly, Mara brought the bright blue tweezers to her eyes. Taking a deep breath as she struggled to resist shutting her eyes, Mara pulled the first hair out. The sudden pluck and release of pressure caused a tear to wield in her eyes. Mara hissed and rubbed her now reddening brow, Mara Harrison had no pain tolerance.

Taking another deep breath Mara brought the tweezers' back to her eye. She had no idea what to do, how thin to make them, how to shape them, or how to even make them look reasonable. A girl in her gym class, Cassie Clark, always had such perfect eyebrows. But then again, Cassie seemed to have perfect everything.

_**Pluck. **_

__"Shit," Mara hissed as she clipped a piece of skin. She raised her hand to her brow and hissed as she felt a small drop of blood trickle from the knick. Groaning Mara took her hand away and glanced at her reflection. Not only was her hair a mess but now she had a small cut on her forehead from the tweezers.

Mara groaned loudly as she opened a drawer and took out a washcloth. She wet the cloth and dabbed the knick until it stopped bleeding. Then she quickly whipped some alcohol across it, hissing when the liquid touched her skin, and cleaned the tweezers. Glancing quickly at her watch, Mara groaned once more, she was already running late for school.

Jumping into the shower quickly, Mara only spent 5 minutes under the warm water. Once happy with the state of her hair she jumped out, dried herself off, and wrapped a towel around herself. Quickly Mara raced to her room and slammed the door behind her.

Molly and John Harrison were already at work. Abby was in her room listening to some new teeny pop song, and Khan was in his room finishing whatever homework he didn't do last night. Quickly Mara threw on whatever set of clothes that she thought was suitable for the autumn Arizona weather, a light long sleeved shirt and jeans. After throwing on a light coat of mascara, Mara grabbed her back pack, and shoes before running out of her room.

"We're late!" Mara called down the hall.

Slowly both Abby and Khan emerged from their rooms. Abby, who was almost taller than Mara, was dressed in a cute sun dress, with her long hair in a fishtail braid. Khan was dressed in his normal day to day wear, a pair of khakis and a dark gray vee-neck tee shirt.

Abby ran up to Mara and hugged her, "Happy Birthday! Do you feel sixteen?"

Mara laughed and hugged her sister back, "Well, not exactly, do you feel ten yet?"

Abby pulled away from her sister and shook her head, "Not really, but being ten is _nothing _like being 16! You're an adult how!"

Mara and Khan chuckled. Mara ruffled Abby's hair as they walked out to the Land Rover, "The only one who's an adult here, is Khan."

Abby sighed, "Yeah, are you guys taking me to school, or should I walk up to the bus stop?"

Mara glanced down at her watch, they already missed first period and if they drove all the way to the elementary school then second period would be out of the question. Sighing Mara shook her head, "We can't sweetie. But it looks like Alice is already there, why don't you go meet up with her?"

Abby Harrison frowned, "Fine, but tomorrow can you guys bring me to school?"

"Tomorrow's Saturday," Khan smirked, "But we can bring you if you'd like."

Abby made a disgusted face, "Ew no, bye Mara, bye Khan!" With that Abby ran over to where her friend was waiting for her.

Mara watched to make sure Abby was safely at the bus stop before walking around to the passenger's side of the car. The car was a little older than Mara herself but in near perfect condition, well besides the creek in the door. Mara tossed her bag long with Khan's into the back seat before sliding into the passenger's seat.

Khan was already settled into the driver's seat. He glanced over at Mara to make sure she was buckled in before shifting into reverse and pulling out of the short driveway. Mara was jerked forward as Khan shifted into drive and took off down the street.

"You know," Mara started as she gripped the door, "I was trying to live past 16."

The corners of Khan's mouth turned up into a smirk as he took a corner a bit too sharply, "Now where's the fun in that Mara?"

"Well for starters," Mara said they turned onto one of the main roads of Phoenix, "I get to live to eat cake tonight, and fail my physics test."

Khan rolled his eyes. He hated when Mara belittled herself and doubted her intelligence. Whenever he heard Mara say something negative Khan would roll his eyes and begin one of his lectures, "Margate Harrison, you are the smartest human I have ever met, you must give yourself more credit."

Mara blushed softly and smiled as Khan slowed the car down to a safe, 60 miles an hour. She settled somewhat back onto the leather and sighed, "You have such a way with words."

"I know, it's a gift," Khan joked as he nodded to the glove compartment, "Open it up, your present's in there."

Arching an eyebrow Mara reached over and opened the glove compartment. Inside was a small black box with a white ribbon tied around it. She reached out and took the box in her hand before glancing over at Khan, "If this is a ring I have to say no."

"It's not an engagement ring," Khan muttered under his breath, "Just open the bloody box."

"Just open the bloody box," Mara mimicked his voice causing Khan to roll his eyes. Over the past year the two developed an almost awkward romantic relationship. Because of their current living situation neither Molly nor John could suspect anything out of the ordinary from the two. So they went on acting like children around each other and joking around. Not even Abby, who had the insight of someone three times her age, suspected a thing.

Mara slowly untied the bow and lifted the top of the box open. Inside was a small necklace with a golden chain and a single piece of turquoise hanging from the center. It was simple, beautifully simple, and it must have coast a lot.

She arched an eyebrow and glanced at Khan as he pulled into the parking lot of their high school, "If you stole this, we're going to bring it back right now."

Khan rolled his eyes, "Do you really think me so low that I must steal gifts for you?"

Mara chuckled as she took the necklace out of the box and held it up, "No, I don't, but it never hurts to check," she unclasped it and handed it to Khan, "here, put it on me?"

Khan smiled and turned off the car before taking the necklace in his hands and placed it on Mara's neck. She moved her hair and allowed Khan to clasp the necklace and trace his hand on the genital curve of her neck. He leaned forward and placed a light kiss on her neck. Mara smiled and she felt him wrap a strong arm around her as he slowly began to tilt her head towards him.

Just as things started they heard a loud rasping knock on the window. Both jumped and turned only to see Dr. Carter, Mara's physics teacher, standing there.

Khan smirked at Mara only last time before they got out of the car. As they walked towards the school he lowered his head to her level and said, "Happy November 2nd."

-15 years later-

November 2nd, a day that would forever live in infamy.

Abby Harrison sat staring at herself in the mirror. She remembered the last time Mara celebrated her birthday with them. The night of her birthday Mara, Abby, and Cole all went out for drinks. Mara and Abby danced, sang, and acted like true sisters should. It was on the better memories Abby kept.

But today a tear trickled down Abby's cheek. Mara would be 31 today, she could have been married, had children, and be one of the best damn astrophysastics the world had ever seen. But now, Mara was lost to both the Harrison's and time.

Abby traced a hand lightly down her face noticing that there were little to no features tying her to Mara. Mara was dark haired, light eyed, pale skin, and a large infectious smile. Abby was light haired, dark eyed, and was told she always looked sad. There was really nothing that tied the Harrison sister together besides a name and a life time of memories.

A knock came from the bathroom door. Abby jumped as she was pulled from her memories and turned towards the door. Bitterly Abby whipped the tears from her eyes and splashed some cold water on her face before opening the door.

Cole stood there. Cole, Mara's only friend that wasn't part of their family, looked tired and exhausted. He was taking Mara's death just as hard, even 4 years later. Not even Cole knew the truth, that Mara was out there somewhere in some unknown vessel that belonged to the most hated man in the 20th century.

"Hey," Cole said with a small smile.

Abby forced one back, "Hi."

A moment of silence hung between the two. Cole rubbed a hand over his face and sighed, "I'm leaving today."

Abby's face dropped, "What, why?"

Cole shook his head, "I can't stay around here anymore. Everything reminds me of, her, and it's just too painful. Abby, no, don't you dare look at me like that! It's not healthy to wallow in this misery. Move away from Phoenix, and start a new life."

That's all Abby wanted to do. But she was weighted down by the guilt of knowing it was her fault Mara meet up with Khan again. If she never joined that group, Mara would be here. Bitterly Abby crossed her arms over her chest, "That's all I want to do! I can't move on, I can't leave my mom here alone."

"But you can't waist away to nothing," Cole said. He bowed his head and at that moment Abby realized that he had loved Mara, "She wouldn't want this."

As Cole walked away Abby glanced at herself in the mirror. Her face was gaunt, there were dark bags under her eyes, and she looked exhausted.

She was wasting away to nothing.

-San Francisco 300 years later-

Mara stood staring at herself in the mirror. She pinched the skin under her eyes, tugged on her lips, examined her cheeks, and titled her head to the side to look at her neck. She looked the same, sounded the same, and thought the same as she used to. But inside, Mara felt different.

A month had passed since the events on the Enterprise. The transition was hard, Starfleet still didn't fully trust her but allowed her to work under supervised circumstances. She visited Harvard, saw the house where Abby and Richard lived but couldn't bring herself to go back to Phoenix.

Sighing Mara dropped her hands to her side. Her face was the same, the gentle features hadn't aged in 300 years. But it didn't feel natural. Mara felt like a freak, a science experiment gone wrong. She stared at herself half wishing she would just age the 300 years at that moment. But the only thing staring back was a woman frozen in time, a time that wasn't her own.

"Mara."

The bathroom door opened and Khan stepped inside. He locked eyes with Mara in the mirror, he knew something was wrong. Mara like to hide her emotions from Khan, it was easier than trying to explain things to him sometimes.

"Hi," Mara said as she forced a smile, "Did I wake you?"

Khan shook his head as he rubbed his eyes, "It's half past one, why are you up so early?"

Mara ran a hand through her hair. Since she woke up it started to thin a bit, but she thought nothing of it, "I couldn't sleep."

"Obviously," Khan muttered bitterly.

Mara pursed her lips but composed herself, "Just go back to sleep Khan, I'll be there in a minute."

Khan nodded before diapering back into his room. For a moment Mara Harrison stood there looking at herself. Then she started coughing. Mara coughed into her elbow a few times before noticing a drop of blood that fell onto her tee shirt. Glancing down Mara narrowed her eyes in confusion.

Little did she know, Mara Harrison was dying.


	2. Chapter 2

Two:

"You've gotten thin."

At first, Mara didn't think she herd Bones correctly. Mara was never overly thin, she was always considered to be at a normal weight for her height. Abby was always the thin toned one out of the two Harrison sisters, Mara was just well, Mara. Lately Mara noticed a change in her eating habits; she ate more than she normally did. At Harvard Mara often went days at a time without food because she was so focused on work. Mara found at home that she ate more than she ever had, that morning she ate almost as much as Khan did. Khan noted that it was odd to see her eating some but Mara just shrugged it off. Mara took no notice to it, she just assumed the change in eating habits could be contributed to the cryogenic process. Her body was coming back to life, nothing more.

"Think so?" Mara replied and if it was nothing. She didn't want Bones to be worried, and she didn't want him to get angry. Bones was clearly protective of her, he was the one that woke Mara up and felt a kinship to the human woman. She was lost in a world that wasn't her own, and Bones wanted to be there for her.

Bones nodded as they walked into Star Fleet Head Quarters, "Your uniform is bigger. Mara, are you eating?"

Mara nodded, "Actually I am, I'm probably eating more than I should be."

But Bones wasn't convinced. He looked at Mara for a moment and noticed how exhausted she looked, "Really Mara, I want to know what's going on. As your standing pit's my deputy to make sure you're in perfect health."

"Bones," Mara nearly snapped as they walked over to the security desk to check in, "I'm fine. I'm in perfectly fine health, I promise."

Bones wasn't convinced. He shook his head as he dug through his back for his ID. Mara, who wore her ID around her neck flashed the guard the piece of plastic. Then she pressed her thumb to the scanner and pressed down. After a few moments it beeped signally Mara had permission to continue. She strolled past the check point but turned to wait for Bones who was still digging through his bag for his ID.

Mara glanced down at her wrists. Her mother always said one way to tell if you were underweight was by how visible your veins on your wrists were. Even without her glasses Mara could tell her veins were pretty visible. Arching an eyebrow Mara looked up as Bones walked through the security check point, "Mind if I do a few tests in your lab?"

"Sure," Bones said as they stepped into the elevator, "But why? Don't you have a course to map for the Enterprise's five year mission?"

After the tests Mara was forced to undergo Star Fleet realized how useful she would be. While Mara still had very little access to the data basses she was given the task of plotting a course for the mission. She was given a year to do this, and at the end of that year it was to be reviewed by Star Fleet Command. If Command approved then she would be permitted to attend the mission as one of the head science officers. It was one of the most stressful things Mara even attempted but she loved a challenge.

"I do, but I want to run a few tests on some blood samples to see what oxygen level Proto humans use in comparison to humans," Mara explained as they stood side by side in the elevator.

Bones arched an eyebrow, "Proto Humans?"

"Proto, is a prefix, Latin based. It means 'primitive' or 'test' as in prototype," Mara explained as they stepped off onto the Science floor.

"I know what it means Mara," Bones chipped, "I want to know what a proto human is."

Mara smirked, "I'm a proto human," when she saw Bone's confused face she sighed, "While you have 300 years of biological advancements under your belt I'm still primitive compared to your species of human. Compared to my form of humanity, you could say you're a homopromix, or human next, as in the next generation of humanity."

When Mara noticed the look Bones was giving her she knitted her eyebrows together, "What?"

"When did you come up with that theory?" Bones asked in awe.

Mara shrugged, "Last night actually, while I was brushing my teeth."

Bones shook his head and chuckled, "If that's what you up with for fun I'd hate to see what you come up with when you're really trying."

Mara smirked as she swiped her key card for her lab, "You already have, those cryostasis tubes were all my design, built them too. Hey, I'll be right in your lab, I have to do something first."

Bones nodded and the two went their separate ways. Mara ducted into her lab and tossed her bag into an empty chair. She walked over to her computer and sat down. As she sat a sharp pain ran down her back. Mara hissed and arched her back as the pain continued for a few seconds before slowly subsiding. A memory rocked Mara, when she was eight the Harrison's were going for a family vacation to San Francisco. While on the way John Harrison wasn't paying attention. For a brief moment he glanced back to look at his children and they ran off the road. Mara was thrown forward and then pulled back by the seat belt. This pain in her back felt similar but about a thousand times worse.

Mara gripped her desk as the pain slowly started to go away. After what seemed like hours the pain became nothing but a soft lingering pain. Mara pinched the bridge of her nose as she tried to relax her breathing. With a shaking hand Mara logged onto her computer while she held her stomach with the other.

"What's happening to me?" Mara whispered. Once her computer turned on Mara sat up and hissed in pain, "Mom, were are you when I need you?"

"State your name and rank," the computer's mechanic voice echoed throughout the empty office.

"Lieutenant," Mara winched, "Margate Harrison."

"Welcome back Dr. Harrison," the computer's voice said.

"Mm," Mara huffed as she ran a hand through her hair, "Computer, I need information about humans 300 years ago."

"Would you like me to search historical databases or medical journals?"

"Medical," Mara groaned as she sat back and pulled out her communicator. She was tempted to call Khan but he wouldn't understand. Khan felt nothing, no emotional pain, no physical pain, he was a void. If she told him about what was going on Khan would scoff at her. As the computer pulled up medical journals Mara stood, she had to take a blood and bone marrow sample. It was the quickest way to see what was going on with her body.

Slowly Mara walked out of her lab and over to the medical lab. Since Bones was the head Doctor at Star Fleet he had his own private lab, which was covenant at the present time. As she slowly made her way to the lab Mara began to feel, fine. It was as if her body did a system reset and everything was back to normal. Hesitantly, Mara rose to her full height and was able to make the rest of the trek to the lab, normally.

Once Mara reached Bones office she typed in the key code. The door opened with ease and she strolled in. Bones was sitting at his desk reading a chart on his data pad. When he heard the door shut Bones looked up and smirked, "Hey."

Mara walked over to the lab equipment and sighed. She reached for a hydrospray and pressed the device down onto her forearm. Mara hissed as the needles pierced her skin and blood filled the chamber, "You'd think that in 300 years they would invent technology that would make this a lot less painful."

Bones shook his head and chuckled, "It's just a pinch."

"Still, hurts like hell," Mara said as the chamber filled. She removed the device and tapped the glass chamber, "Where's your micro scope."

"We stopped using those about, fifty years ago. Here," Bones stood and outstretched his hand, "What do you want me to look for? I can scan the blood."

Hesitantly Mara placed the hydrospray into Bones hand. Bones smiled and looked down at the blood sample. There were obvious differences between the two types of humans. Bones knew his own blood was much darker, Mara's was lighter, "What am I looking for exactly?"

"Any sort of cell deteration," Mara said as she ran a hand through her hair.

"Mara, is there something you're not telling me?" Bones asked.

Forcing a smile Mara shrugged, "What can I say, I'm full of spurries. Alright, I have a course to go map, I'll be back in a few hours."


End file.
